Red Pride campaign helps school spirit

Saratoga High School is well known for its standout academics and excellent extracurriculars. However, there is not nearly enough school spirit, especially for sports. 

An example that epitomizes this point: In last year’s CCS football game played vs. Aptos High School on our home turf, they had more of a crowd than we did.

The new Red Pride campaign, which has already started with the new football field, should help change this. With a new sports plaza scheduled to be finished by next June, more people should be inclined to go to the school’s sporting events.

The new sports plaza will include new bathrooms, food stands and other different necessities that will make Benny Pierce Field a more enjoyable place to watch any sports game, not just football. This will attract more of a crowd and thus help our sports teams. 

Some people may not think that a large crowd helps a sports team, but it does. With a larger crowd, the athletes have an extra incentive to play their best and do well for the sake of not just themselves, but for the entire school.

Some students think that the money that is being used to fundraise this campaign is wasteful and not needed. They think that it would be better put toward the math, science or music departments. However, if enough money is raised, every field can be refurbished, which will contribute to the success of every sports team at our school, as well as the band and colorguard. 

Another big part of the red pride campaign was the refurbishing of the track. This renovation not only helps the school’s running sports, but it helps the community as well. The track draws people from all ages to the school. A better track will benefit all of the people from the school’s runners, to parents who enjoy jogging on the track in the morning.

SHS does pride itself on its academics as a school (which it should), but over the years, the school has built up a stereotype of being solely academic — something that is not true at all. This view is held by people from other schools, as well as some of the students at Saratoga, which is not right.

With facilities that will attract more people to the sporting events, students will be able to see that the school is well rounded: great in academics and athletics.